BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

New Jersey allows voters to mail their ballots in early before Election Day voting, but the ballots don’t get counted until that night.

One Ocean County politician wants the right to vote extended to those early voters who pass away before election night.

Lehighvalleylive.com reports that Assemblyman Donald Dancer has proposed legislation allowing the early votes of those who die before polls open for an election to still count toward the final results. Election boards are currently required by law to reject mail-in ballots of those who pass on before the opening of the polls.

Dancer said his original legislation was directed toward active members of the military. His son-in-law served in Iran and Afghanistan. Dancer said, according to NJ.com, “I believe strongly in making sure he had a mail-in ballot to vote."

The assemblyman believes New Jersey should follow the lead of Indiana, which has proposed allowing the votes of everyone who casts an absentee ballot and later passes away to count. Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin wants to see the votes of the deceased count.

Their voices should be heard... Even in death," Durkin said, according to NJ.com. "Guarantees in life will not just be death and taxes, but also a vote."

Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore might have appreciated Dancer’s idea. A 2004 report from USA Today noted that 455 Floridians of voting age die every day, and Gore lost the 2000 election by only 537 votes. National Conference of State Legislatures senior fellow Tim Storey said, "There are lots of examples of elections being decided by one vote or 300 votes."

According to NJ.com, the State Division of Elections rejected 5,500 ballots in the last election, but it is not known how many were not counted due to deaths.